A WWII Advertisement with Nude Weighing

I just found this old 1942 wartime advertisement on tumblr:

http://retrogasm.tumblr.com/post/119948718794/american-dairy-association-1942

Remember how many threads and posts there are about nude weighing now compared to previous times? Well, here's something that shows what the norm was back then.

That looks like a Norman Rockwell print.

Hilarious, how can people take simple nudity to be a sin or a moral defect? Full frontal nudity in porn is an adult subject and adults should be able to choose what they look at. Anything to do with kids should be avoided unless it is on legitimate medical sites.

I think that is the most precious picture ever lol. My favorite picture ever is actually Norman Rockwell's picture of the little boy standing on the chair with his pants down in the doctors office. Someday I want a big print of that framed up all nice. I would proudly hang it on my wall. Trust me, oh yes I absolutely would.

Mashie

That looks like a Norman Rockwell print.

It was probably inspired by his style. By WWII Norman Rockwell was already a very successful illustrator and known to millions by reason of his many magazine covers. And besides that, this style of everyday realism had been used by magazine and book illustrators since the turn of the century. It was the prevalent style in publishing.

If you want to take it a bit further, just as the USSR espoused Socialist Realism as the preferred style for painting and art, at around the same time in the US and the western world, a sort of everyday hometown realism became one of the favored art styles in the popular media. Norman Rockwell became one of the most successful and inspired artists in this genre and of course inspired many others. He became so successful that people now talk of the almost mythical time of a Norman Rockwell America.

Great print. Thanks for posting it. Who would have thought that a nude boy being weighed could be used to sell dairy products!

Who would have thought that a nude boy being weighed could be used to sell dairy products!

Different times, different customs. This ad is one of those little indications that show how (medical) customs have evolved over the years. I guess younger members sometimes wonder if all the stuff older members tell about is really all that true or not. A printed ad like this just underscores how utterly normal nude weighing was back then. And how publishers were certain that no one would be shocked or outraged by showing it either ...

I just love coming across stuff like this.

Mashie, Rockwell had a series of paintings about kids and doctor's offices. I don't know how many offices I called on that had the entire series. One of my favorites is the older doctor listening with his stethoscope to a "Raggedy Ann" doll , being held up to him by a 5-6 year old girl.

Mashie, for ,the picture you like, just follow the link:

http://www.zity.biz/index.php?mx=gallery;ox=showalbum;ax=6228

That's so cute!

Love it.

C.

Interesting post to see..

Thank you for sharing.

Interesting. I remember being weighed in my undies, not fully nude.

This was an ad for butter, I like the reference at the top to five million diary farmers.

If this ad was from 1942, it pre dated the beginning of butter rationing in March 1943.

Cool pic. I like the 5,000,000 dairy farmers part! And butter, oh my, the uses for butter. Now everyone seems so overly concerned about fat content. There's still nothing quite like real butter, even clarified butter. Maybe someone will make a list of all the uses for butter, not only as a table spread but for so many other good things too. If you want to see someone who uses butter in all kinds of recipes, check out Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. New cookbook out too!

PS I generally weigh nude as I don't want my clothes, esp shoes, adding extra pounds.

And butter, oh my, the uses for butter. Now everyone seems so overly concerned about fat content. There's still nothing quite like real butter, even clarified butter.

Times change. If you went through the war, especially in an occupied country, culinary concerns would have been vastly different from those now. Butter was precious, so were eggs and red meat, or things like sugar, coffee and chocolate. You'd consider informing on your neighbors for a steak ... ha ha.

I can still vaguely remember the time when people in Belgium would go for a day trip to the Netherlands and come back with as much smuggled butter as possible ... no joke. My wife's mother was a specialist in that. She'd cross the border with large voluminous skirts with pockets sewed on the inside and stuff them with butter coming back ...

I guess it was a common thing at the time of world war...even now in RUSSIA, CHINA and GERMANY its carried out, expecially in army medical inspections...in germany they call it 'musterung', there is a whole blog related to musterung..and in russia they call it медосмотр, i have seen several videos in which the males are either nude or wearing just briefs and undergoing all kind of medical inspection...well those were really good times i guess...

I remember as a patient to be measured and weighted at least in briefs, never fully nude. I quite often weight and measure my female patient fully nude, usually at the beginning or at the end of the examination